STORM CLOUDS OVER MURRAYFIELD

Townsend does not have his troubles to seek as injuries hit Scotland squad Cockerill strips ‘embarrassing’ Bradbury of Edinburgh captaincy

THE storm clouds gathering over Murrayfield have not been of Gregor Townsend’s making. He has just been left to deal with the resultant downpour.

Yesterday, a day later than scheduled, the Scotland head coach announced his squad for the forthcoming autumn Test Series. Samoa, New Zealand and Australia will provide the formidable opposition. A daunting prospect, for sure.

There’s little doubt Townsend would have liked to have called on the very best the country has on offer. Yet, the absence list reads almost like a starting XV.

Greig Laidlaw, Richie Gray, Fraser Brown, Duncan Taylor, Sean Maitland, Allan Dell and Adam Ashe are among those ruled out through injury. Openside flanker John Hardie is also missing, suspended until an SRU investigation into alleged cocaine use is concluded. Townsend, unsurprisingly, refused to comment on the matter.

And so, the former Glasgow Warriors boss has been forced to draft in ten uncapped players into his 36-strong squad. Needs must, of course.

Townsend also has no guarantee that his captain John Barclay will be fit. The Scarlets flanker has not played since being sent to a concussion specialist last week after taking longer than expected to recover from a head knock.

Former Welsh Under-20 player Luke Hamilton of Leicester Tigers, who qualifies through his dad from Stirling, and Carlisle-born Chris Harris of Newcastle Falcons, who is eligible through his grandmother from Edinburgh, are the real wild cards.

Townsend (right) insists he is excited after convincing the pair to throw their lot in with Scotland but the reality is it is asking a lot of the new men to make an immediate impact against such high-class opposition.

Key players have been lost from all over the pitch but at loose-head prop, in particular, Scotland are woefully lacking strength in depth.

Edinburgh star Dell was given extra time to undergo a late fitness test on his groin strain, which he failed, leaving Townsend without a single fit capped player available to start there. The uncapped duo of Glasgow’s Jamie Bhatti and Darryl Marfo of Edinburgh are the only specialist loose-heads left in his squad.

‘It’s something we’ve talked about but Jamie and Darryl are performing well,’ said Townsend. ‘I thought Jamie scrummed really well against Leinster at Scotstoun on Saturday and Darryl played really well against Leinster away in the league and at the weekend in Moscow.

‘We’re confident both of them will do a really good job for us.

‘They’ve won their places at their club teams. Jamie’s got ahead of Alex Allan at Glasgow and has been playing not just regularly but 70-80 minutes, which shows how much he’s improved and how much the coaches at Glasgow feel he’s able to play. Through game time you get better. ‘We are facing two of the world’s top three sides in New Zealand and Australia after a significant challenge from Samoa in our opening game. ‘It will be an excellent challenge for all our players but they will have to intensify their efforts to earn the opportunity to play.’

Townsend didn’t give any clues over whether any of the other uncapped players will start in the first game against Samoa — but he did talk up both Hamilton and Harris, who could face the South Sea Islanders to ensure they are then tied to Scotland.

‘Chris Harris was very close to making the summer tour squad and he is a player we have known for a while,’ said Townsend.

‘He has become a regular and played every game for Newcastle this season. He burst on to the scene a couple of seasons ago more as a winger that could play in the centre and scored a couple of cracking tries against Saracens. This season, he has played more at 13 and has improved defensively. He’s been very physical in defence.

‘At the weekend, he played wing which is again of interest to us but we see him more as a 13.

‘His family are all from Carlisle, so he’s almost a Borderer to us!

‘As for Luke Hamilton, we have known for a couple of years he is Scotland-qualified. First of all, from a Glasgow perspective, we were interested in signing him when he was playing for Agen but he ended up at Leicester.

‘Now as a coaching group with Scotland, we have had a good look at him this year and he is playing really well. He is more a six or eight in our mind but he has played the last two games at seven in the Champions Cup and was one of the best players on the field.

‘For him to commit to Scotland is great for us. We look forward to working with him.

‘His dad is from Stirling and he used to spend his summer holidays in Stirling, which sounds great. He came through the Welsh system and although he played for the Wales Under-20 team a few years ago that does not stop him becoming involved with us.

‘He is Welsh and Scottish qualified and it is great that we can involve him this season.’

The shock omission is Harlequins winger Tim Visser, who loses out to Glasgow’s Tommy Seymour which is no surprise but also to Edinburgh’s Dougie Fife and the uncapped Byron McGuigan of Sale Sharks. Townsend made clear he had picked on form and Visser had not started the season well.

‘The way he played for Scotland and Quins last year was outstanding but he hasn’t got back to that level this season,’ said Townsend. ‘Scoring tries is part of it, but the teams we are playing against will be moving the ball around a lot.

‘We need certain things for our wingers, like high work rate. Just now, Tim is not showing that enough. But things may change.

‘Tim knows what he has to work on. Over the last few games, Tim has got himself back into the Harlequins team but just hasn’t hit the form we know he’s capable of.’